Saturday, January 7, 2012

Sidetracked, again

I have searched for years to find my Smith family. I even got my father to sign up for the Smith DNA project. which has only given us one match and the names they have mean nothing right now to me,.
I have been "told" we are related to a George and Rebecca (Bowen) Smith. While they have a very romantic story, it has no evidence to support it.
So one again I spent the holidays just plugging in names I know are right into Google and Ancestry to see what might turn up. I know it is not the most effective search method , but when just killing time it is usually interesting. This time I think I hit on gold.
I was trying to locate my gg-grandfather Henry Hill (b abt 1840) in 1870 .I found his marriage record in TN. That led me to what appeared to be him in the 1860 Scott co. TN census, living next to a Nancy Smith. Duh! I had read that she insisted on taking back her maiden name when she divorced Henry's father, Berry Hill, and there she was with her Hill children . And on the same page was a Henry Smith and his wife Creecy, the name Henry would give his eldest daughter. Now I have spent nearly two weeks trying to find evidence to show that this family is who I think they are, I think Henry was a cousin to my hard to find Smith family! The names are too similar, the eldest family members were born in VA where the DNA test has placed the family. I have a theory that works perfectly in my head, if I can just find that bit of paper that will prove it .
And the sidetrack? I still have not found Henry Hill in 1870 census, but I found the rest of the "family"